DNA links man to 2000 slaying

CHICAGO — A man charged with sexually assaulting and strangling a female acquaintance four years ago had his bail set Friday at $750,000.

Rickey Riley, 42, was charged with aggravated criminal sexual assault and first-degree murder in the Sept. 16, 2000, slaying of Phyllis McGregory, 44, of the 7000 block of South Winchester Avenue.

Prosecutors allege that Riley, of the 7000 block of South Damen Avenue, would often give McGregory drugs in exchange for sex. On the day McGregory was killed, prosecutors said, Riley brought her to a wooded area in the 2100 block of West 73rd Street, where he and another assailant raped, bound and strangled her. A second suspect has not been charged.

McGregory's body was found two months later, prosecutors said, and tests revealed that semen found on her clothing matched Riley's DNA. Riley was arrested Wednesday, court documents indicate.